Local documentarians moved by Lincoln

Friday

Jul 5, 2013 at 2:00 AMJul 7, 2013 at 1:11 PM

Hampton resident Jim Conant and his son, who have a shared admiration for President Lincoln, set out on a quest in the 150th anniversary year of the Gettysburg Address to see all five copies of the famed speech written in Lincoln's hand. It sounds simple, but over time the journey has become more than they'd imagined.

Nick B. Reid

Hampton resident Jim Conant and his son, who have a shared admiration for President Lincoln, set out on a quest in the 150th anniversary year of the Gettysburg Address to see all five copies of the famed speech written in Lincoln's hand. It sounds simple, but over time the journey has become more than they'd imagined.

"What started out as a simple little father-son type thing, just going around and seeing the copies, has turned into a lot more than that," Jim Conant said.

Now they're filming a documentary that includes top contemporary Lincoln scholars and even taking on the White House, where the only copy of the Gettysburg Address that isn't available to the public sits locked in the Lincoln Bedroom.

The copies have received nicknames over the years based on their histories. The Hay and Nickolay copies are in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., while the Everett copy is in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., and the Bancroft copy is at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

So far they have visited and seen two of the five copies.

"Eventually, at the end of the day, we'll be able to see all four copies," Conant said. "And the fifth — the Bliss copy (at the White House) — is the one that has been our biggest challenge."

Conant said the Bliss copy was the property of Oscar Cintas, a former Cuban ambassador to the United States, after he bought it at auction. Cintas willed that copy to the American people upon his death in 1957, Conant said, with the stipulation that it be kept in the Lincoln Bedroom.

"Well, that doesn't really work because if you're going to give it to the American people, the American people can't get into the White House," Conant said. "We're all ordinary citizens and since that was willed to us, as the American people, we should have an opportunity to go see it."

Conant said the document has been removed from the Lincoln Bedroom before, most recently at the end of 2008 to go for some time in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History, and he feels now's a reasonable time for it to see the light of day again.

"Especially on the 150th anniversary, there's no better time to get this out there than this year," he said.

Conant has even sent a letter to the president to that effect, but he thinks it'll take more than that if he's going to achieve his goal.

"Even though both of our senators and the governor have passed that letter along on our behalf, I'm sure a letter like that doesn't stand a chance of getting on to the president," he said.

But having spoken with so many Lincoln scholars and history buffs, including Tom Brokaw, for the documentary he hopes will be aired on PBS on Nov. 19, the anniversary of the address, he's not giving up.

"You can see a picture of the Grand Canyon, but until you step on the side of the canyon, you don't really get it. It's just like that with a document, too," he said. "When I know I'm inches away from a document like the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights, it's a whole different experience."

The documentary, called "The Gettysburg Address," features interviews with the country's leading historians, Lincoln scholars, Ivy League professors, powerful politicians, businessmen, conservationists and celebrities, Conant said.

"It's not only to watch us as we try to fulfill this quest, but also to educate people on the five copies and how they came about," he said. "These scholars are just so eager to share their opinions and thoughts on this."

Conant said such a collaboration has never been done before.

"It really has turned into not just a quest for ourselves, but if we can pull it off and convince the White House to put it on display, it'll be for everybody else that has an interest. There's no doubt people are interested in seeing these kind of documents," he said.

For Conant and his son, Sean, who's studying history at the University of New Hampshire, interest in the Gettysburg Address and the Civil War runs deep. They even had a near encounter with the document some years ago.

"There was a time (the document) was at the Gettysburg National Cemetery and unfortunately something happened the day we went, and they had to take it off display. I remember it was like, 'Oh my gosh. We don't come down here that often'," Conant said.

He's hoping the White House will honor the anniversary with the same gusto he does.

"I won't be around for the 200th (anniversary), so I've got to do what I've got to do," he said.

More information about the Conants' documentary can be found at gettysburgaddressfilm.com. Conant said he's in discussions to have it broadcast on PBS' American Experiences segment on the anniversary of the address.

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